7 DEC. 16, 2016 Column Writing

Anything but beautifulModeling industries have a dark sideby McKensi Uecker

Looking past the glossy magazine covers, beautiful faces and fake smiles, it becomes quite apparent that the modeling industry has a dark side. Not only is modeling a dangerous career choice, but it is has an extremely negative influence on many adolescents, leading to spiked rates in unhealthy eating disorders and depression. Many people I know are trying too hard to look like the models on TV, and it’s taking a toll on their physical and emotional well being.

Modeling is unhealthy for many individuals as they try to reach “perfection” by any means. Malnutrition and anxiety plague the lives of some of the most beautiful people in the world. Not only that, but models are taken advantage of financially. Unless they are one of the more elite “top models” in the industry, it can be very difficult for them to find good paying work. Even when aspiring models are able to find jobs, their agencies rob them and can take up to 20% commission amongst many other expenses. Many models struggle to pay rent while their agencies are rolling in the cash that they steal from their employees.

In a recent CNN interview, former agency executive Carolyn Kramer said, “When you’re a supermodel like

Gisele or Christy Turlington you’re treated like royalty, but 99% of models are treated like garbage.”

While the industry mistreats many models, it doesn’t only negatively impact its participants, it affects people everywhere. Everyday in my high school, I hear people saying, “I wish I was taller” or “I wish I was thinner.” They are saying these demeaning things because society has taught us that we have to look a certain way to be pretty. To feel good about themselves, women think that they have to have no body fat, but that is not the reality of beauty. Newsflash, the people on the magazine covers don’t look “perfect” without major editing, so people shouldn’t pressure themselves to look like that.

Many people think that only women feel pressure to look a certain way, but it affects people of all genders and all ages. Men feel just as much pressure as to look a certain way. They are expected to be buff, over 6 feet tall and have flawless skin. But in fact, the models themselves don’t even look like they do in magazines. The amount of Photoshop involved in advertisements is unbelievable, and it results in unrealistic expectations not only among the public, but within the modeling industry too.

It’s important to remember that everyone is different and that’s okay, life isn’t about trying to achieve perfection, it’s about loving who you are. As long as you’re living a healthy lifestyle, you don’t need to be thinner. You don’t need to be taller. You just need to learn to love yourself and stop hurting yourself trying to reach perfection, because perfection isn’t attainable. Perfection doesn’t exist, so just be yourself.

“Why do Models

Look so Unhappy?”

“Because Most of Them Are.”

30%

40%

50%

60%

“I feel so lost, lonelyand miserable.” -Essena O’Neil

“I was like an animal in a cage.” -Cara Delevinge

63% of girls think body imagerepresented by the fashionidustry is unrealistic.

Yet 60% say they compare theirbodies to fashion models.

48% wish they were as skinny as the models in fashion magazines.

47% think it’s unhealthy.

31% of girls admit to starving themselves.

Infographic by Kaylee Yost

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